Publicity

August 14, 2023, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

A Powerpoint Presentation about the Japanese concentration camps on Java during WWII: Rising from the Shadow of the Sun
Orchard Villas Clubhouse, Orchard Villas Ave, Apex, NC 27502

The presentation was attended by about 45 people, including several Veterans, and you could hear a pin drop. In my mind I compared it to my very first presentation in 1993, based on my first book In the Shadow of the Sun, without any video or slides, for the Sunrise Rotary club in Hilo, Hawai’i. I had an audience of about 100, mostly Japanese Americans, with total concentration.

April 3, 7:00 – 8:15 a.m.

A Powerpoint Presentation for the Sunrise Rotary Club
MacGregor Downs Country Club, Cary NC

Facilitator: Graham H. Wilson, Community Outreach Coordinator

On a very early morning, the day after Easter, I addressed members of the Sunrise Rotary Club including Rotary Presidents from other local Rotary Clubs at MacGregor Downs, a lovely location.
A WWII veteran from Cary, Charlie Seay, was a guest of honor.

March 14, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

Rising from the Shadow of the Sun: a WWII Survivor’s Story. Keynote Presentation at the Cary Senior Center

A Keynote Presentation by Author Ronny Herman de Jong, a survivor of two Japanese concentration camps for women and children on the Island of Java during World War II.  Anyone with an interest in history, or interested in the power of hope against all odds and the strength and resilience of women in the worst possible circumstances will be enriched by de Jong’s presentation.

This presentation was attended by some 50 people, all very patient when the equipment did not work right away and I finally decided to connect a hand-held microphone with a cord to my iPad so people could follow what I said 🙂 Nobody left early and there was an extensive question and answer period afterwards.

Stefanie Nichols, CPRP, CPP
Program Specialist
Cary Senior Center
Physical Address: 120 Maury O’Dell Place, Cary, N.C. 27513
(919)469-4081

March 10, 2018 — Keynote Presentation at the White Plains Methodist Church in Cary, N.C.

On March 10 I gave a very successful Keynote Presentation for a crowd of over 50 men and women at the White Plains Methodist Church in Cary, N.C. As the last survivor of our family I am telling my mother’s story of love and survival of the Japanese concentration camps; a story she painstakingly wrote at the risk of losing her life, an eyewitness account of our lives in the camps under Japanese oppression. Many people have no idea what happened to the civilian population in Southeast Asia while the allied Forces fought the bloody battles during WWII in the Pacific.

You can see and hear Ronny talk a bit about her experience and about this presentation here:

 

November 6, 2017 — Power Point Presentation for the RLCB, the Raleigh Lions Club for the Blind,

About 30 Lions were present for the November 6 luncheon at 2701 Noblin Rd, Raleigh, NC 27604.

October 16, 2017 — An Audiobook of Rising from the Shadow of the Sun!

Living in a community with older people, many of whom have macular degeneration, I realized that many other people these days like to listen to audiobooks too, while commuting, while doing housework, while gardening or cooking, or just because they do not want to hold a book.

Now I am happy to let you know that I am working on an audiobook of my historical Memoir Rising from the Shadow of the Sun. It will be ready by the end of November and available everywhere before Christmas!

Of course I am in the first place thinking of those of us with family members who were in Japanese concentration camps, and who would rather not talk about their experiences; Indo’s and belandas alike of the second and third generation who want to know what really happened in the civilian camps under Japanese occupation. I am also thinking of the many people who know virtually nothing about the camps.

For all those people I wrote my 4 books:

  • 1992, In the Shadow of the Sun, a detailed description of life in the camps, which I translated from my mother’s secret camp diary.
  • 2011: Rising from the Shadow of the Sun, 1st Edition, my mother’s camp story plus my story of life after the camps plus the Japanese War Crimes Files.
  • 2014: Survivors of WWII in the Pacific, an Anthology of stories by 4 Navy men, memories of teenagers who lived through the camps and the story of the Navajo Code Talkers, who were instrumental in ending the War in the Pacific.
  • 2015: Rising from the Shadow of the Sun, 2nd Edition with better pictures and Paula’s and Mamma’s final days.

I am the last surviving leaf of the four leaf clover — Fokko, Netty, Ronny and Paula Herman — and I will continue to tell our story because I can; because I am alive! And you will be able to hear our voices 75 years after Mamma started her diary.

August 16, 2017 — Ronny did a presentation for a full house in the Independent Living Theatre in Cary, NC (about 60 people plus some standing). The writeup, formerly at http://carycitizen.com/2017/08/16/waltonwood-resident-shares-prison-camp-experience/, is no longer available.

August 9, 2017 — A reporter from CBS North Carolina interviewed Ronny for the 5 o’clock news. See the video here: http://wncn.com/2017/08/09/cary-woman-recounts-surviving-japanese-prison-camp-during-wwii/.

March 7, 2017 — Prescott, Arizona columnist Jerry Jackson (The Daily Courier) featured Ronny in another of his columns today in the Courier. He was impressed with a story she had written that was published in her church’s Advent Devotional. To read the story, please click Experience Shows Guardian Angels Are Everywhere.

A reaction from one reader reads like follows: “Dear Mr. Jackson, Thank you for the uplifting article on Ronny de Jong’s experience as a guardian angel. During these times of crazy headlines from the White House, it is refreshing to read a ‘feel good’ article in our local newspaper. My husband and I enjoyed reading this with our morning coffee yesterday.”

September 13, 2016Thanks to an introduction by Jamie Fox and invitation to speak to the Prescott Noon Lions on August 31, 2016, Prescott Daily Courier columnist Jerry Jackson featured Ronny Herman de Jong’s books, specifically Survivors of WWII in the Pacific in Today’s Column.

Below the column you will find links to previous presentations around Prescott by Ronny Herman de Jong and by Hannie Blaauw (2008) featured in the Courier.

June 24, 2016 — In the Shadow of the Sun (1992), was one of the first accounts in the English language about the brutal treatment of women and children by the Japanese in concentration camps in Asia during World War II. In January and August 1993, Ronny gave interviews in Dutch and English, respectively. Now for the first time, you can watch and listen to those videos here:

April 24, 2016(Pacific Islander and American Asian Ministries Sunday): Ronny was asked to lead the service in the First Congregational Church in Prescott. She designed the service, with different languages, decorations and music from various Pacific Islands. Read the account in the Prescott Daily Courier.

March 22, 2016 — A group of about thirty Prescottonians of all walks of life listened to Ronny’s Presentation about life in Japanese concentration camps at the Homestead of Mr. and Mrs. C. Kring. Her mother’s secret camp diary elicited many questions.

March 09, 2016 — Ronny Herman de Jong delivered an interesting presentation during the morning Program of the Sunup Rotary Club of Prescott at Hotel St. Michael, sharing stories from her mother’s secret camp journal, brought to life by a video and pictures.

January 28, 2016 — Ronny delivered a Power Point presentation about her life in WWII Japanese concentration camps and thereafter at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona.

Ronny shared the book she wrote based on her mother’s secret camp diary, Rising from the Shadow of the Sun: A Story of Love, Survival and Joy, as well as the original diary, dating back to 1940, and more.

Newspaper Pic ThumbAugust 23, 2015“Tales of Concentration Camp … Heroes and Hope” in the Prescott Daily Courier. Note: To see the truly beautiful printed page containing this interview, please click the thumbnail image to the left.

August 19, 2015“Author Introduces Book on World War II in the Pacific” in the Prescott Daily Courier.

August 15, 2015Book Promotion in the U.K. for Ronny’s second book. “Rising from the Shadow of the Sun, derived from the diary of the author’s mother, is a story that everyone must read.” Continue Reading.

July 1, 2015Hassayampa Neighborhood News, Prescott, AZ

The air raid sirens blared a warning that the Japanese bombers were overhead. Ronny, her mother Netty, and her sister Paula crawled under the strong wooden “hiding table”.

2002-11-05-14-27-21This was a daily occurrence prior to the Japanese occupation of Java, in the Dutch East Indies. Separated from her Dutch Naval Air Force father, Fokko, for the next 31⁄2 years, Ronny Herman, her mother and sister, would be forced into a Japanese prison camp.

They would endure starvation, disease, isolation and uncertainty. Her story is told in her book Rising from the Shadow of the Sun. But her story, as told in part through her mother’s diary, is also a story about love, joy and ultimately a story of the family’s survival and a life well lived. The book, one of three she has written about her experiences during World War II, leads you through her marriage to Meindert (Mike) de Jong, her travels around the world, her ambition to be a social worker, her real life jobs as an actress, model, girl Friday, and eventually a writer. She also answers the question, “How did you end up in Hassayampa?”

I will always remember Ronny allowing me to hold her mother’s diary. This roller coaster story of emotion is available through the Peregrine Book Company here in Prescott, Amazon, or signed copies via her website http://www.ronnyhermandejong.com. A true patriotic read on the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.

June 28, 2015Granite Peak Universalist Unitarian Congregation (GPUUC), Chapter FE, Prescott, AZ

May 16, 2015Prescott Valley Public Library Book Fair, Prescott, AZ

May 1, 2015CCTV Programs on the Japanese Army’s Torture of POWS during WWII

On May 1, 2015, two days after the visit of the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, to the United States, during which no official apology about Japan’s War time atrocities was forthcoming, China Central TV aired a five minute interview with WWII camp survivor Ronny Herman de Jong as the beginning of a series of programs on the topic of the Japanese Army’s torture of POWs during World War II.

Beginning and ending with her immediate reactions after watching the movie Unbroken which premiered in the U.S. on Christmas Day but is still banned in Japan, they showed Ronny’s mother’s secret camp diary, pictures from her book In the Shadow of the Sun and its striking front cover with the Japanese war flag. Another part of the interview was filmed at the Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, Arizona.

Although In the Shadow of the Sun has been out of print for many years, Ronny repeated the story about the cruel treatment in Japanese concentration camps for women and children in Part One of her second book Rising from the Shadow of the Sun: A Story of Love, Survival and Joy (Amazon Worldwide) which is also available in print and as e-book from many online distributors all over the world.

This book includes two exhibits of the Japanese War Crimes Files, declassified in the year 2000. One of them, Exhibit “O,” was the order issued on August 1, 1944 for the disposition (murder) of all POWs, commencing in September 1945. The bombs were dropped just in time!

Here is the CCTV Chinese news interview on YouTube:

CCTV Chinese news reaches nearly one billion viewers in China. Their international channels reach more than 100 million people in more than 120 countries. Distribution of the CCTV News channel is being expanded month by month.

Following is the English Translation of the Chinese text:

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During WWII, the Dutch in Asia also suffered from the Japanese Cruelty. In Indonesia, during the Japanese occupation, 42,000 Dutch soldiers were captured, 100,000 Dutch residents were confined in concentration camps, most of them died. Ronny Herman de Jong, a Dutch American, at the time was among the confined.

Ronny’s mother kept a secret diary, which became evidence of this dark period of time. On Ronny’s birthday, she went to see the movie Unbroken. The scenes of the Japanese soldiers’ cruel treatment of the prisoners of war brought back her memories.

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Ronny was born in the Dutch East Indies, in Surabaya, which is now East Java’s capital. Her father was a Dutch Military Pilot. At the time, he had to leave with the retreating Dutch military forces, and left his wife and 2 daughters behind. After the Japanese invaded the island, the 3 year old Ronny and her mother, as well as her younger sister, were put into the camp.

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During the 3 1/2 long years of the camp life, Ronny’s mother and her daughters experienced a lot of cruel things. Ronny’s mother kept a secret diary, recording their experience and how they witnessed the Japanese killing and torturing of the women. This black diary Ronny’s mother kept at the bottom of her trunk to avoid Japanese discovery.

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Ronny said that the pages were torn off by her mother recorded the Japanese cruel treatment in the latter part of their camp life. Her mother, on the one hand, experienced the torture of the treatment; on the other hand, she was afraid of the discovery of the diary by the Japanese. Therefore she tore off those pages. Many years after the war, when her mother told her those memories, her mother could not stop crying.

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After the war, Ronny and her mother went back to Holland and reunited with their families. Later they immigrated to America. She wrote 2 books according to the diary and her experience. In the Shadow of the Sun and Rising from the Shadow of the Sun.

In the 3rd book published recently, she recorded the experience of several survivors of WWII in the Pacific. She said that she hopes that many more people, especially the Japanese people, can see these facts, and that the Japanese government should admit the war crimes and apologize to the survivors.

April 27, 2015Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO), Chapter FE, Prescott, AZ

April 10, 2015Ronny Herman de Jong is a guest author on BooksAdvisor.com.

March 31, 2015Office of Congressman 4th District Paul Gosar, Prescott, AZ

Paul Gosar and meFriends in high places—Because of my involvement with a number of WWII Veterans in town, in particular one of two remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors Ed Sowman, who recently passed away, Congressman Paul Gosar (Fourth District), also interested in Veterans projects, invited me to his office in Prescott, AZ on March 31 for a fifteen-minute talk about my experiences in World War Two and my books.

Congressman Gosar was so fascinated hearing about the brutal treatment of women and children in concentration camps under Japanese oppression that our animated conversation lasted thirty-five minutes instead of fifteen.

For me, that was delightful. Once I start talking I can go on for an hour or more. But the waiting room was full of people waiting for their turn.

March 1, 2015Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors (SDPHS), Prescott, AZ

Febraury 20, 2015Las Fuentes Resort Village, Prescott, AZ

December 9, 2014Wright Book Group, Prescott, AZ

December 7, 2014Representative Paul Gosar (Arizona 4th District) posted This Article on Pearl Harbor Day along with a video (see video below dated Aug 15) on his FaceBook Page.  Thanks, Congressman Gosar!

December 6, 2014 — Lu Ann Worley of Rockin’ Book Reviews wrote a review of Ronny’s book and had Ronny as a guest on her blog.

September 19, 2014Democratic Women of Prescott, Prescott, AZ

September 19, 2014The Yavapai County Democratic Party featured Ronny Herman de Jong as one of two guest speakers at its annual Authors’ Luncheon at the JTED Culinary Arts Institute in Prescott Valley.

August 15, 2014TV interview with Sandy Moss on “The Morning Scramble,” AZTV7 Cable 13, honoring Pearl Harbor veteran Edward Sowman and WWII and Korea veteran Guy Willis.

April 3, 2014Prescott High School, Prescott, AZ

March 19, 2014Ronny is featured on Janet Givens’ Blog

March 6, 2014Morrison Book Group, Phoenix, AZ

December 18, 2013TV Interview on “The Morning Scramble,” AZTV7 Cable 13

November 17, 2013One chapter—”Kill or Cure”—from Ronny’s book was published in What’s Your Story? Memoir Anthology. You can find it at Amazon.com.

August 17, 2013To read an article about Ronny in The Pensacola Examiner on Click Here
(Note: Despite the “Suggested by the Author” note that appears after the article, the author does not necessarily recommend any of those books listed.)

July 3 & 10, 2013Interview with Ronny Herman de Jong SBS Dutch Radio (Australia) Note: Unfortunately, the links for the interview, audio files, or English translations for this entry are no longer available.

July 4, 2013Press Release from Ronny Herman de Jong

On August 15, 2013 the world will commemorate the 68th anniversary of the Japanese surrender, and the end of the war in the Pacific.

May 25, 2012Peregrine Book Company, Prescott, AZ

April 10, 2012Tri-City College Prep School, Prescott, AZ

April 3, 2013Spotlight on Ronny Herman de Jong Morgen Bailey
Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog

March 26, 2013GOODKINDLES Where Writers meet Readers
GoodKindles

February 16, 2012Prescott Valley Public Library, Prescott, AZ

Indies Unlimited
Video Trailer: Rising from the Shadow of the Sun (Posted on October 8, 2012 by Administrators)

September 5, 2012PCC UCC Women’s Fellowship, Prescott, AZ

Indies Unlimited
Sneak Peek: Rising from the Shadow of the Sun
(Posted on August 15, 2012 by Administrators)

June 27, 2012Hassayampa Book Group, Prescott, AZ

June 21, 2012Interview with Ronny Herman de Jong, Author of Rising from the Shadow of the Sun. Sandy Moss – KQNA/KPPV Radio, Prescott, Arizona  KQNA Radioshow with Sandy Moss.

May 15, 2012Mile High Middle School, Prescott, AZ

May 9, 2012Dirienzo Book Group, Prescott, AZ

April 14, 2012Hastings Books and Music, Prescott, AZ

December 07, 2011Nagedachtenis aan een Eeuwling van Nistelrode Note: Unfortunately, this link no longer available.

September 2, 2010For one Prescott woman, V-J Day’s victory was personal
Prescott, Arizona

January 27, 2010 — Overlevende van de Japanse concentratie kampen wordt 100 jaar Note: Unfortunately, this link no longer available.

June 2006Interview with Ronny Herman, Author of In the Shadow of the Sun, Sandy Moss – KQNA/KPPV Radio,  Prescott, Arizona

October 1, 2004Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Presentation by Ronny Herman, Author of In the Shadow of the Sun, Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona

May 18, 2004Library of Congress Veterans’ History Project
Interview with Ronny Herman, Author of In the Shadow of the Sun, Prescott, Arizona

May 14, 2004AM Arizona, AZTV7/Cable 13
Talk Show with Tonya Mock and Lew Rees, Prescott, Arizona

November 2000 — Flag Flap
Article by Ronny Herman in Hawaii Business Note: Unfortunately, this link no longer available.

August 8, 1994Indonesia Revisited
Long-awaited journey home brings surprises by Ronny Herman, The Windmill Post, Canada

August 1993Interview with Ronny Herman
Author of In the Shadow of the Sun, KGMB News, Honolulu, Hawai’i

August 1993 interview, KGMB News, Honolulu, Hawai’i

January 1993TV Interview with Ronny Herman
Author of In the Shadow of the Sun, AVRO Service Salon, Hilversum, The Netherlands

January 1993 TV interview, AVRO Service Salon, Hilversum, The Netherlands

 

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